Champion's League Final 2013 Preview

This 25th of May marks a special day for the Bundesliga and German Football in general. It’s going to be the first ever all-German UEFA Champion’s League Final. The two German giants that will face each other in Wembley will be back-to-back defending Bundesliga Titleholders, Borussia Dortmund and this season’s designated Bundesliga Champs, Bayern Munich. Just how I’ve foreseen it since the completion of the Group Stages – it’s going to be a Red vs Yellow warfare after all the drama and glory this competition has put on display thus far.

En route to the finals, Bayern Munich were definitely the more spectacular ones, literally getting stronger and stronger each round that passed by, literally trashing whoever got in their way. Bayern may not have finished their group stages unbeaten, and had to hold off a strong Arsenal attack at home in the Round of 16; but after sending this season’s Serie A Champions crashing out of the competition in the quarter finals with an imposing 4-0 (2-0, 0-2) aggregate win, and humiliating “the world’s best team”, (and La Liga’s League Leader) Barcelona,7-0 (4-0, 0-3) on aggregate in the semis… it just seems like this will be Bayern’s year to claim the title at last.

Borussia Dortmund – more than just an underdog

The only problem that Bayern has, the last tiny little hurdle between them and the glorious Champion’s League trophy, is Borussia Dortmund who have put on display some of the most magnificent Champion’s League runs of the club’s history. No one has expected them to get through the group stage, the “group of death” with Champions Real Madrid (Spain), Manchester City (England) and Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands) in it – but hey, Dortmund even finished top!

Armed with the miraculous comeback against Malaga at the Signal Iduna Park, and the trashing of Real Madrid through a 4-1 home win in the semis makes up for a tense and close final come May 25. Borussia Dortmund has not lost a single game in the Champion’s League, until the 2-0 loss away at the Bernabéu that could have almost cost them entrance to the final. Is Dortmund going to be beaten twice in a row in the Champion’s League this year or will they grind out yet another “night to remember” and spoil Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich of their “triple dream”?

One of the best finals yet.

This year’s final appears to be one of the best Champion’s League finals yet. Both teams got to where they are right now through hard work and exceptional team work. There have been nights where extraordinary talents stood out (Müller at home against Barcelona and Lewandowski at home against Madrid), but all in all, it was a team effort that brought them this far. None of them have superstars like Messi or Ronaldo in their squad, and guess what? None of them needed any of the two to make it to the finals either. Football fans are up for a treat as we’re assured to be part of one of the best finals ever.

Verdict for the Final

It’s hard to call a winner in this one, but if Bayern can keep up their momentum, and if everything fares well, I see no reason for Munich to choke the third champion’s league final in 4 years. This is Bayern’s year, and this will be the year of Bayern’s triple.

All in all, this game could be decided by a moment of brilliance or moment of madness (see Hummel’s mistake against Ronaldo in the first leg of the semi final) on either end of the pitch. It doesn’t really matter to me who wins, because right now, German football has already won, and the scoreline for this season is an impressive 2-0 against the mighty La Liga opponents Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Which team are you going to support in this year’s final? Bayern? Dortmund? Whom do you expect to win this year? Let us know in the comments below.